Happy Valley’s Cemeteries: A Home for Hong Kong Hindus

Tucked into the lush green hills of Happy Valley is a testament to the foundational presence of Hong Kong’s South Asian community: the Hindu Temple. Past its peachy walls, a brief ascent along marble stairs leads to the main worship hall and a serene courtyard where pigeons bask in the morning sun. Just past a banyan tree is a cemetery that has occupied this quiet space since the late 19th century. 

The first wave of Indian settlements in Hong Kong were mostly Indian troops who served the British in the first Opium War in 1839, followed by merchants and labourers who found opportunity in cotton, silk and opium trade after the partition in 1947. Though the temple was built in 1953, the cemetery predates it by a quarter century: in 1928, the colonial British government granted the local Hindu community a 35,000-square-foot plot of land for memorials.

Those familiar with Hindu religious practices may be surprised at the presence of a cemetery. Normally, Hindus practise cremation, believing the ritual of burning a body liberates the souls of the deceased. But the establishment of a cemetery was intended to “create a sense of community,” according to Bill Mak, a professor at the University of Science and Technology in Hefei, who wrote about the history of the temple and its cemetery for the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. Today, this complex serves as an anchor for Hong Kong’s Hindu population, bringing together recent immigrants as well as those with deep roots in Hong Kong. 

Deep roots

During a morning visit, the cemetery exudes a tranquil stillness. 56 gravestones, on which 35 name inscriptions are visible, are installed neatly on three platforms across the mountain slope, each telling a unique story of the local Indian community.

A three-metre-tall granite obelisk honours eight Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives during World War I from 1914 to 1928 in service of the British Empire. Military memorials were placed to give deceased soldiers of Hindu origins a British form of memorial suited to one’s rank. Two graves dating from after World War II mark the names of two royal engineers of Nepalese descent, or Gurkhas. They were also buried with full military honours according to Hindu rites, “borne to the grave by eight bearers from his Squadron…as it was lowered a three-volley salute was fired by a firing party,” as Mak writes in his article.

Every year on November 11, a memorial service is held to commemorate these soldiers. Two years ago, trustees of the temple received funding from the Indian government to repair and renovate the cemetery in tribute of their sacrifice. “It was a big honour,” says Lal Hardasani, current president of the Hindu Association, which maintains the temple complex. 

Currently, the grave with the most documented family history in public records belongs to Soonderam Pillay, a member of the first Indian military police contingent known as the Hong Kong Lascars, a term that refers to sailors or soldiers from South Asia. The Lascars arrived in colonial Hong Kong to help maintain order and control for the British military personnel. Their choice to be buried instead of cremated could be “a sensible choice” made in accordance with the norm of the British military police contingent, notes Mak.

Over the years, Soonderam Pillay was joined by other members of his family, most of whom lived in Wan Chai. His eldest son, Ramasamy Soonderam, served as the President of the Hindu Association in the 1920s and helped raise money for cemetery maintenance. Another descendant, Soopin Soonderam, studied at Queen’s College — Sun Yat-sen’s alma mater — and later became a government officer at the Mercantile Marine Office. His wife, Alaiya, whose funeral appears to have been of European tradition, received an abundance of floral tributes from not only Hindu friends but also Europeans and Chinese connections.

The oldest gravestone in the cemetery dates back to 1888. It belongs to Hingwanmah, wife of Soonderam Pillay, likely a Chinese name and possibly “the oldest specimen of an Indian grave in Hong Kong,” writes Mak. Some graves bear Chinese names, suggesting interracial marriages with local Chinese women, which Hardasani notes was uncommon at the time due to cultural traditions, but a practical choice given the circumstances. “During the two wars, immigrants were unavailable to travel back to India to get married, and therefore could have decided to settle in Hong Kong and marry a Chinese girl,” he says. “In Chinese traditional culture, many preferred to be buried with their ancestors rather than be cremated.” 

The word “aṅkām”, which means “Hong Kong” in Tamil, is engraved on one memorial pillar – possibly the oldest inscription of its kind to date in the city. Mak describes it as a powerful testimony to the rich diversity and multi-ethnic fabric of early Hong Kong, at a time when a majority of ancestors of the Chinese population had not come to Hong Kong yet. “As residents of Hong Kong, some of these Indians have longer roots than many local Chinese,” he tells us by video call. The cemetery retains memories of a diverse group of individuals who might otherwise have been forgotten. 

An old dream

The Hindu temple is the oldest known structure in Hong Kong exclusively devoted to Hindu worship. (Before it opened, Hindu activities took place in the Sikh temple, built in 1901, the Indian Recreation Club, which opened in 1917, and at various hotels.) Its establishment is closely tied to the resourcefulness and resilience of immigrant merchants amid tumultuous times in Hong Kong. In 1937, recognising a need for a sacred space where devotees can practise Hindu worship, members of the Hindu Association drove plans to build a separate temple next to the cemetery.

Construction came to a halt with the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941. M.R. Deb, a local Hindu man who worked on mosquito elimination with malariologists at the Sanitary Department, stewarded the temple project. Unfortunately, he was killed during the war in North Point, and the designs and planning documents that had been produced for the temple were lost with him.

But adversity gave rise to resilience. In 1951, silk merchant F.T. Melwani oversaw the resumption of the construction project. The temple was inaugurated two years later; Melwani later became the president of the Hindu Association. In those days, as Hong Kong quickly recovered from the destruction of World War II, Indian merchants like Melwani were becoming influential in the city. Many were from the Sindhi region of what is now Pakistan — including the renowned Harilela family — and they tapped into their diasporic resources to serve as mediators across the colonial landscape of government and business. “They are socialites very active in society and brought a lot of resources to the community,” says Mak.

Those connections helped fund the temple, which cost more than HK$100,000 at the time. It was dedicated to the Hindu god Lakshmi Narain. “The completion of this temple is the fulfilment of an old dream,” Melwani told Far East Magazine at the temple’s opening. Over the next few years, the temple not only served as a gathering place where Hindus could worship, get married and celebrate festivals like Diwali, it was also “helping the poor and the destitutes” through charitable initiatives, Melwani told the South China Morning Post in 1958.

Melwani died from a heart attack in 1964. His funeral drew prominent figures from Hong Kong’s business, hotel and philanthropic circles, including Hon Dhun Ruttonjee, whose father was commemorated by Ruttonjee Hospital, as well as Hari Harilela. He was later cremated at Cape Collinson. 

Hardasani, current president of the Hindu Association, is a businessman who came to Hong Kong in 1969 to help his uncle’s venture. He fell in love with the city, made it his home in 1972 and founded his own company. Four years later, Hardasani decided to join the board, and has since served the Hindu temple and cemetery until today. 

Over piping hot masala chai in his office, Hardasani talks about the temple’s history and current developments, his immigration tale and family. His warm and quiet authority occasionally melts into a chuckle when he introduces a photo of his beloved pet dog. 

Hardasani’s community service has long begun since childhood in India, where he used to follow the example of a poised, devoted uncle and organised footwear belonging to hundreds of worshippers attending big religious functions, who took their shoes off to enter the temple. “It gave me inspiration that I must do something for my community, for my region, for my family,” says Hardasani. He brought this mission to Hong Kong, and over the years, witnessed the growth of the Happy Valley Hindu community, including more Balinese and Nepalese members.  

For 49 years, he served the community ceaselessly. He recently oversaw the installation of a chairlift for older members who still visit the temple regularly for worship. 

A sanctuary for the community

In 2010, the Hindu Temple was officially listed as a Grade II historic structure by the Hong Kong government. “It is a prestige and good honour,” says Hardasani. The mastermind behind the temple’s architecture was Fung Tsun, who also designed the Tung Lin Kok Yuen Monastery on San Kwong Road in Happy Valley, which overlooks the Jewish cemetery. 

The temple’s interior is designed in a traditional way with multi-foil ogee arches — a kind of double curve common in Indian architecture — along with simplified moldings and ornaments. Shiny plaques engraved with names of donors, including members of the Hariela family, are displayed at doors leading to various function rooms. It may be historic, but it is a living heritage: the temple comes alive every week with a vegetarian feast, along with religious services, weddings and other community events.

Most people return home and institutions close after work hours. But soft, warm lights continue to glow through the Hindu Temple windows in the evenings in Happy Valley, brightening up the dark green slopes, with strands of luminous threads draped around the vimana. The Hindu Temple and cemetery bears witness to the diversity of lives and experiences of Indians and immigrants, who for generations have called Hong Kong home, and in turn, serves them as a second home they call their own. 

“The Hindu temple is a testimony,” writes Mak, “of the diversity of the lives and experiences of the Indians in a foreign land which generations have called home for over a century.”

Note: The Hindu temple and cemetery are not open to the public, but the Hindu Association offers free tours to learn more about the complex’s history. For guided tour enquiries and bookings, please contact Vijai Jeandani at +852 2572 5284.